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you could get one of those large, deep "runoff trays" you know the 4x4 and 4x8 ones that are like 8 inches deep... and then install a float valve on it so that when it goes below a certain level, it will trip the water back on and refill it. basically you'd be building a passive hydro table, which seems awesome to me! it may require you to prop your plants up slightly, but it would definitely do the trick.

also, you could go the blumat route, if you are not attached to having SIP garden, and they do a pretty damn good job. sometimes they can be finicky, but the same thing can apply. you can get a reservoir, install a float valve, and then not have to worry about leaving for several days!
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Shluby: I wish I had the height to be able to set up an auto passive hydro system like you speak about and I've contemplated long and hard on blumats. I don't like having a bunch of lines and clutter running everywhere as my rooms are hard to work in. Have you ever used the ones that just suck water from a reservoir? like these http://www.blumat.com/en/watering-system-for-house-plants.html
The other thing I don't like about them is needing several for large containers....and that adds up as they are somewhat costly.

I really like that idea with the 1 gallons you got going on and thanks for sharing!
Big thanks to Shelby, RandomHero, and Dubekoms for chiming in and giving advice. The swick method/shulbys method for younger clones I will test out for sure.

those little blumats literally are the worst. i couldn't even get them to work. complete waste of money. If you're gonna go blumat route, the regulars and the maxi's are the only way to go. really, the lines are not a pain at all man. now i don't even have my reservoirs in my flower room, i run the line through the wall and it just lays on the floor, and they're really easy to work around. if you get the silicon tubing (and don't use the black non flexible crap line they come with) they're a piece of cake to move around, adjust, disconnect whenever needed.... makes life easy. I think the blumats are 100% worth the money.

As for the little "psuedosip" style i put together in my veg side.... working like a charm! the plants are super happy and healthy, and best of all, the soil is staying at the perfect moisture level. I'm gonna make a post in my thread later today with some updates as to the happenings in the garden. but so far, very very very happy with the way that sip style is working and will be doing it from now on with my smaller containers, and i'm likely gonna try it with a larger container too as a test and see how it goes. I'm a little more skeptical of the larger container having to fight gravity and all with no "wicks" in the soil.

Appreciate the sincerity brother! It sure is a PITA and its a daily reminder that I should of worn a damn seatbelt. Over the winter I've been working my butt off redoing everything to make less work on the lower back. Yesterday I mixed up 30 gallons of soil, took down 2 lights and felt everything shift!! Spent several hours laying on the floor with a heating pad....as bad as that sounds I was up and moving this morning!! And I couldn't be happier about the SIPS thus far and Ive got my fingers crossed that the no till works just as wellLess physical soil mixing and water moving is a must now. Check out the one week difference with my 20 Gallon SIPS in recycled living organic soil....
Freshly Transplanted on 2/7
Almost a full 7 days later! Todays photo 2/13

Hope Im not over posting but the last 2 photos aren't showing on my screen....last attempt!

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lol yeah they came up on all three for me! nice work with the sip! Looking healthy . and yeah, going no till and easier watering methods are a must. there's nothing i hate more than breaking up root balls to recycle the mix. rather do it once with a no till after a year or two than constantly doing it every harvest. really lightens the load of work!

I'm looking forward to all of that SHluby and couldn't agree more! Are worms a must in the no till pots?? Was planning to top plants with insect frass, osf, gypsum, kelp,and biolive along with compost. I do have the worms but just haven't added them as I don't want to worry about keeping the very top of the soil moist.

I'm looking forward to all of that SHluby and couldn't agree more! Are worms a must in the no till pots?? Was planning to top plants with insect frass, osf, gypsum, kelp,and biolive along with compost. I do have the worms but just haven't added them as I don't want to worry about keeping the very top of the soil moist.

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well here's the thing... when you topdress, you need moisture in the top of the soil so organisms can be motile and the amendments to be moist and easier to decompose so they can perform nutrient cycling with your topdressings. so unless you're burying your nutrients an inch or more below the surface where there is more moisture, you kind of need to keep that top layer moist for breakdown. At least for accelerated breakdown. Worms will also help break stuff down and aerate the soil, and provide you with fresh compost on top of the pot pretty much always! you don't need a large population or anything. i add roughly 20-30 or so worms to each no-till every few cycles so far. if i scrape back the mulch layer and i don't see many (which may not necessarily mean that they aren't in there somewhere) i just add a few back in. worms will go where the moisture is, so if its kinda dry up top, they'll be on the boundary of that moist/dry area.

i imagine that piece of panda film keeps the upper layer of soil moist enough yeah?

Thank you for a good explanation shluby! The panda film does do a good job of keeping the surface moist. I wasn't sure how many worms it would take either per pot. I can easily handle throwing 2 dozen worms on the top of the sips containers Thanks again for the advice

Your sips mainlined look good Tim Fox! How many weeks vegging to get to that point?

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good morning, i vegged for 5 weeks on the nose this time,,, the mainlining allowed me to get a bigger root system and thicker trucks/stalks , and stay shorter,,, i have been in flower now for 8 days, and have lots of room for stretch, the goal being to not have hardly any larf/popcorn this grow, just main cola's,, its been fun doing nugbuckets mainlings this grow

good morning, i vegged for 5 weeks on the nose this time,,, the mainlining allowed me to get a bigger root system and thicker trucks/stalks , and stay shorter,,, i have been in flower now for 8 days, and have lots of room for stretch, the goal being to not have hardly any larf/popcorn this grow, just main cola's,, its been fun doing nugbuckets mainlings this grow

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haha i don't think you'll have any larf issues with those ladies! Well done.